Brisk Walking: Good for Heart Health

Walking is one of the simplest exercises. Research shows that it also provides a bounty of health benefits. One of the more prominent benefits is how it helps with cardiovascular health. A recent study published in the European Heart Journal shows that raising walking speed can greatly reduce risks of cardiovascular death.

The study focused on a group of 420,000 individuals from the UK who were, at the time of the study’s start, free from cancer and cardiovascular disease. They formed three groups, slow, average, and brisk, based on their self-reported walking speed. Researchers compared health records between the three groups to see if there were any differences in their risk of cardiovascular-related deaths. They found that the slow walking group was twice as likely to have cardiovascular-related issues than the brisk walking group.

This correlation held up even after adjusting for other factors such as dietary habits. This correlation also was apparent in both men and women. This study reinforces how walking is good for cardiovascular disease. Previous research has found that even moderate walking can improve risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This study shows that brisk walking can improve on that even further.